21 thoughts on “Tourniquets”

1. I bought a good quality RATS tourniquet on sale last Black Friday. I’m glad to have one in my FAK, but I’m embarrassed to say that (beyond understanding the general principle) I don’t really know how to use it.

   I’ve got a few items of gear/kit that fall into the category of “have it but can’t use it.”

2. Thanks for the heads-up, CZ. Sadly, LAST MONTH was my annual “inspect and repack the medic bags” frenzy.

3. I’ve had the misfortune of getting three of the CAT TQ’s fakes and had the velcro actually become de-laminated in the heat of the car on one of them. I’ve replaced them with original ones but I’ve retired those to the mass trauma bag BUT I put tape on it saying “copy”. It’s amazing how much in emergency trauma has changed in just a few short years for the layman. Any prepper or survivalist who doesn’t take even the simplest “Stop the Bleed” class is doing a disservice to them self and family.

4. http://www.bleedingcontrol.org local providers nationwide offer training for no cost.

5. The better brands that I have bought run me 30 to 40 dollars. If you know of a cheaper option please share. Our employer has us do a half day field first aid class each year and tourniquet use is a big part of that. Oddly enough our employer does not give out tourniquets it is an out of pocket expense if you want to carry one.

   I have given out a few to family members and a buddy at work. I like to give out practicle gifts when I do and I usually try to make it something that person would not purchase them self. My buddy at work has sense bought one to leave in each car and gave me a few first aid pouches to mount in mine.

   I did not really think about tourniquets until about 2 years ago when a lot of the domestic terror attacks and shootings started getting worse. I carry a handgun because I think I may one day be in a situation when I need it. With that mind set I figure if I may find myself in a situation where I need a gun that same situation may call for a trauma kit.

   Your blog is always thought provoking and worth the visit thanks.

6. Just dropping this here FWIW, Ive been employed as an EMT since 1995 in a large city and have never used or seen a tourniquet used. Thats 23 years, tens of thousands of ’emergencies’, and aid rendered on probably at least a few thousand trauma victims personally at this point – never needed a tourniquet.

   My advice, unless you are getting them for free, dont bother. Isreali bandages are a much better investment.

   • I appreciate your experience, but there’s one part of your advice that really stands out. In a “large city”. To me that means 2 things. First, relatively quick response from EMS and close proximity to a level one trauma center. Not everyone lives in that scenario. This is a quote from the conclusion of a study involving tourniquet use in Iraq… “Fifty-seven percent of the deaths might have been prevented by earlier tourniquet use.” I never left the wire without one in Afghanistan. Where I was you could wait up to 2 hours for evacuation to a field hospital. I pay a monthly premium for term life insurance I hope I never use, so I don’t think a one time $35 purchase of a good tourniquet is stupid. I do agree that Israeli bandages are a good purchase.

     • I appreciate your service, thank you.

       Keep in mind that the reason you are seeing statistics like that is because you guys are wearing body armor, so the majority of life threatening wounds are going to be extremity wounds with vascular involvement.

       You are right, buying one isn’t too much to ask, but I’m just saying the practical usefulness of tourniquets for the average Joe Sixpack user has been way overblown, mostly by the people selling them.

       • While it’s interesting to hear from a “big city” EMT, our local paramedic units do carry tourniquet and even train local LE in the use. I’ve been trained by the military and local medical experts. It doesn’t surprise me that a “big city” EMT wouldn’t be using them because they do tend to lag behind concerning the introduction and use of current medical practices. It’s just the nature of the business.

         • We have them, we train with them. Once in a blue moon, I will hear about them being used.

   • How about have both.

   • Do you carry any tourniquets and Israeli bandages as a EMT?

7. I, as well, was a medic in Da Biig City, pulling something on the order of 10 000- 12 000 calls. Buncha shootings. I have never needed a tourniquet.

   By the same token, carried a pistol in my civilian life , daily, for circa 20-30 years. I have never required a pistol.

   I carry, daily, both. Every day. If my luck is so poor as to require a pistol, gonna be glad I have the TQ. Indeed, that TQ may reinforce my assertion that the pistol is a piece of emergency, life saving, equipment.

8. I bet the guy who tried futilely to save the student’s life in the shooting in CT would have liked to have a TQ… kid eventually died from blood loss.

   In my opinion, every fire extinguisher cabinet should have a traumatic bleeding control kit in it in any public place that might be a target for hostile shooters. Yep, costs money. Don’t care. Fire extinguishers and their management cost money too, yet we still provide them, in fact REQUIRE them. When is the last time there was a school fire with loss of life? Now, when was the last time there was a school shooting that might have benefited from some bleeding control while TPTB held EMS back until LEO declared the scene ‘secure’?

   Mass casualty is different from big city EMS in that you need to stop the bleed, and MOVE ON, and if the event is big enough, your casualty is going to be waiting for transport and treatment. Same for a hunter that ADs, or the guy at the rural range with a Serpa holster….

   Well made and widely available TQs are a Good Thing (TM)

   Fortunately there is some dawning recognition of the facts out there.

   Google ‘you are the help until the help arrives’, ‘immediate responder’, ‘tactical EMS’, and the classic ‘stop the bleed’.

   n

   • Just recently stocked in medical cabinet at work,after AEDs. No training but enough veterans that might remember how.

9. Added–

   there are already mass casualty response kits out there, but at a minimum I’d like to see 2x TQ, 2x rolls Kerlix, 2x israeli bandage, 2x clotting agent, 8x gloves. Probably less than $120 in a vac seal bag, in bulk.

   n

10. Better to have than to have not!. 6 months back from a combat tour in Iraq(04-05), where yes we carried and used tourniquets quite often, I joined the local PD. I carried one there and everyone looked at me crazy. Then a male fell of a train and cut his leg off mid-thigh. It was pinched closed but I grabbed my tourniquet and placed it high and tight. The ER doc stated I had probably saved his life. So….. yeah but a good one and carry it!!!!!!

11. I accept that an original (trustworthy) tourniquet is best, bur isn’t it true that it will only be used once?
    A dodgy one is better than none…

    • No it’s not I’ve seen film of the “dodgy one” break and the only thing it did was use up time.

12. All good suggestions. I particularly like the idea of putting a trauma kit with some of the fire extinguishers at work.

    One thing I did not see, and I may have accidentally slipped over it was no one really mentioned trauma shears. I think the shears kinda go hand in hand with tourniquets and the Israeli bandages. I keep a set of shears on my ifak that is attached to my bag and they get a lot of use for a large array of tasks. The best thing is you can get them on Amazon for a very decent price. I have had good luck with the brand Madison Supply.

    • Dang, forgot the shears on the bleeding control. One set in the bag, one set TAPED to the outside of the bag.

      nick

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